“Your father had been stealing from the council for years. My mother was his secretary; she helped him cover it up for years, wanting to protect your mother and Vance,” he tells me.
“I don’t understand,” I admit, and he seems reluctant to tell me.
“Your father took the money and threatened to frame Vance for it. When my mother died, he had no one to cover up for him. That’s when my father noticed the books, the human governments audited the city council, and he realized for yearsmoney was going missing, and that my mother was covering it up. When she passed, your father tried to frame Vance for taking it.”
“It’s why I killed my father. I thought it was because he was accused of stealing council money, given that Vance worked at the council and had clearance to access it, having taken over from my mother as one of your father’s secretaries, who was the treasurer. It also explains why my father declared Vance would never be Alpha. He said he couldn’t be trusted with the pack finances. But then they had a falling out right before my father tried to kill Vance,” Zayn explains.
“Why would your father even believe that about his own son in the first place?”
“Because Vance spent most of his teenage years in and out of rehab. He was battling drug addiction, so it was easy to make it look like him, and that my mother was covering up for him.”
“So Vance was supposed to be Alpha?”
“Vance is a year older than me, but that doesn’t make you automatically Alpha. If I had challenged Vance for the spot, I would have won. He knows it, and I know it. Vance had no interest in the position anyway. However, an Alpha can elect someone as Alpha so it doesn’t necessarily go to the firstborn, though in most instances it is passed down.”
“Then why not take over after your father died?”
“Vance didn’t want to be Alpha for one, however that isn’t the only reason the pack would not accept him, and they would never accept a recovering addict as Alpha,” Zayn explains.
I wait for him to continue, yet he doesn’t; instead, he starts washing me. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“I’d rather wait because Vance doesn’t even know,” Zayn tells me. I glance at him over my shoulder.
“What do you mean?” I hold my breath, trying to grasp the severity of the situation. Zayn’s eyes narrow, his jaw clenches,and his fingers tensed against my skin, betraying the pain he is trying to hide. He takes a deep breath, his resolve strengthening.
“Even the dead have secrets. Those secrets are their ghosts,” Zayn murmurs. “I loved my father; he was strict, but I loved him, and he loved us. After he lost my mother, he changed as one does when they lose their bond. The situation with Vance pushed him over the edge,” Zayn whispers. “And I love my brother more,” Zayn murmurs.
“So my father framed Vance, and your father tried to kill him, so you killed your father?”
“That’s most of it,” he answers vaguely.
“Zayn, please, I know you’re hiding something,” I tell him. “I can feel it,” I admit, and he chuckles.
“Of course, you can. Just let me speak with Vance first,” he kisses my shoulder. “Please, it’s not my story to tell, and not a story he is even familiar with. He should know first,” he tells me. I nod reluctantly.
“So, what happens next?” I ask nervously.
“Your father comes clean, or I will have to drag all this out into the open. Either way, once it’s out, Alpha Dane will have nothing else to use against him. But first, I need to figure out one other thing first. That’s if your father is hiding something else and has put your pack up for collateral; I need to be able to prove it first.” he tells me and my brow furrows as I try to think of any other reason besides what Zayn has said and what my father has confessed, I am also at a loss of any other reasoning.
“Prove what first?”
“That your mother never signed the pack over to him.”
“Your father witnessed it. You said so yourself.” He nods, his hands featherlight against my skin as he rubs my arms.
“Yes, and you said that wasn’t your mother’s signature,” Zayn tells me and he is correct. It didn’t look like her writing, but then again, what I remember of her has been dulled by time, so Icould be wrong. I’m sure my father would have her signature on something at home.
“You think we are missing a piece of this fucked puzzle?”
“I think we are missing half the pieces,” he states.
“My father may have the original document. It seems that would be something he would have to keep, right?” I ask and Zayn nods. “I could try to find it. But…Zayn, I can’t go back, my father will force me to marry.”
He growls, cutting off my words. “You’re not going home, Cleo.”His arms tighten around me, his fingers digging into my skin.
“But my pack, I don’t have a choice.”
“Your pack will be fine, I promise,” he whispers, and I chew my lip hoping he’s right. I know I can’t go through with marrying Boyd, not only for the bond, but I can’t force Zayn to endure that either, that would be cruel. Yet the consequences if I don’t still worry me.
